24. november 2002

Far Right Tide Turning in Alpine Countries After an era dominated by the populist far right party of Jörg Haider, the old parties are reestablished in Austria. Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's (picture) centre-right party won a surprisingly clear victory in the general election, with 42.3 per cent of the popular vote. In neighbouring Switzerland, a very tight referendum ended with a sigh of relief for moderates and the international community alike as the proposed extremist immigration laws were rejected. 10:40:41 PM    comment []

Too Pretty for that Blog. New edition of the Occoquan Inquirer, with many interesting excerpts from this week in blogging. Obviously, Mark could not help bringing on the story (and picture!) about the girl who was too pretty for the Swedish navy. I love it when real jokes on the Swedes gets passed around. 8:28:12 PM    comment []

Bin Laden's Letter to America The Guardian/Observer provides an English translation of a letter from Bin Laden that has been circulating among his sympathisers for some time. It provides an unique glimpse into his thinking and rationalisations. 8:14:47 PM    comment []

The attention whore Look at this brilliant animated gif which describes to a t the behaviour of certain girls, and certain guys, on message boards. Thanks to George. 7:24:57 PM    comment []

Gas tanker on fire outside Hong Kong This just in: A tanker carrying liquid petroleum gas is on fire outside Hong Kong. The crew is evacuated, but there is a genuine danger of a huge explosion if the fire spreads to the tanks. 10:07:33 AM    comment []

Semen Quality Better in Cities A study of semen quality done at the University of Missouri reveals significant regional differences in the United States. And contrary to what one might expect, quality is significantly better in large cities than in rural Missouri. Some researchers suggest that agricultural chemicals may contribute to the low semen quality. Notch another one down to the quality of an urban lifestyle. 9:53:36 AM    comment []

Blasphemic Metablogging Added a new category for my metablogging, that is, whatever I write about blogging. 1:42:19 AM    comment []

Finding our voices first, our audience second When I started this blog around two months ago, I purposedly did not include an 'mission statement.' I had some general ideas what I wanted to write about, but I know so well that the road changes as you walk it. I have participated on online foras for around ten years, including Usenet, mailing lists, message boards and chat rooms, covering a very diverse range of subjects. What I wanted to do was find a place to post opinions and references to news items that I have earlier posted elsewhere. I have often read news items that I really felt like saying something about. I have had web pages since the world wide web started to grow, more or less, but it's just too cumbersome to set up a web page for any opinion I might have. I essentially wanted a single-user message board, or a simple news publishing system. Obviously many have felt the same way; which is why we have the blog phenomen. I think this is a the right approach to blogging, if there is such a thing. When I was working on my master project some years back, my professor repeatedly emphasised that a good scholar had to find his or her own voice in the work. I think the same is true of blogging. Some of us come here with a clear opinion of what we want to do. Some struggle more to find their own distinct voice in the forest of blogs, and it may take some time for them to find out what they want to do with their writing. Once we find our own voice and our own range of subjects, the readers will find us. They want to know more or less what to expect from our blogs, and if they share our interests and like our writings, they will come back. 1:33:10 AM    comment []

Perhaps you forgot a crucial word? "Settlement of Iraq problem will end terrorism: Russia" (Headline in Pakistan's Daily Times, just now featured on Google News) Forgetting the word 'not' really changes the meaning of a sentence. 1:16:31 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2002 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.12.02; 02:51:21.